I want to share with you the important benefits of a clean desk. Most of us will agree that a cluttered, messy desk is an obstacle to productivity. But let’s be honest, we differ greatly in our ability to keep that desk in its pristine state. Personally, I consider my desk as prime real estate, not a landfill. Why is a Messy Desk Bad? Let me count the ways. It’s a Time Waster A messy desk is a problem because...

]]>http://prebenormen.com/progress-success-failure/productivity/clean-desk/feed/010514Surprise! Be Careful How You Choose New Hobbieshttp://prebenormen.com/writing/surprise-be-careful-how-you-choose-new-hobbies
http://prebenormen.com/writing/surprise-be-careful-how-you-choose-new-hobbies#respondThu, 25 Jan 2018 17:26:02 +0000http://prebenormen.com/?p=10503Preben Ormen's Blog: Surprise! Be Careful How You Choose New Hobbies

This may come as a surprise, but I recommend that you choose your new hobbies carefully. We can agree that hobbies are important. Why? Well, consider the standard definition of a hobby: “An activity done regularly in one’s leisure time for pleasure.” Hobbies can give us pleasure. They are something we do in our spare time and help relieve stress. They take our minds out of the daily circus tent or carousel, pick your metaphor. Most of us can run...

]]>http://prebenormen.com/writing/surprise-be-careful-how-you-choose-new-hobbies/feed/010503Social Media Is Not the Boss of Youhttp://prebenormen.com/writing/social-media-not-boss
http://prebenormen.com/writing/social-media-not-boss#respondWed, 24 Jan 2018 17:02:51 +0000http://prebenormen.com/?p=10496Preben Ormen's Blog: Social Media Is Not the Boss of You

Social media is not the boss of you, so don’t act like it; assert yourself. And for good measure, I lump in email and old-school voice calls while we’re at it. I get that social media activity carries a sense of urgency and importance and that it may feel like your immediate attention is required. But it’s all a front. The World Will Not Collapse The world will not collapse if you put the fire hose on a schedule. (And...

Ever feel like you’re running out of time and can’t seem to catch up? Makes it hard to find personal time for your life, too, besides the ever-present to-do list. I have touched on ways to improve personal productivity in previous posts, but there’s simple little thing you can consider to get around this problem whether it’s just a one-time catch-up effort or a longer-term time management strategy. Ready for it? Here it is. The Solution You can buy back...

Stories, especially in fiction, need tension and awesome stories get tension right. Awesome stories are awesome because the tension is balanced and unobtrusive, yet gets us where it counts as readers. On the other hand, stories without tension usually feel flat and un-engaging and leave us feeling as if something is missing. This isn’t exactly new news, but tension remains a central problem to good writing: how do we craft the right level of tension into our stories? To answer...